WHAT ARE POLYPHENOLS?

Polyphenols are naturally occurring chemicals that are present in various vegetables. What makes them so special, though, is their potential positive impact at an antioxidant and cardiovascular level. Currently, scientific studies are focusing on one of these polyphenols in particular, oleocanthal, which has tremendous anti-inflammatory properties. The Oleocanthal “in vitro” laboratory, for example, has shown that the antioxidant is able to kill cancer cells without harming healthy human cells. This is the conclusion of a recent study conducted by a team of scientists at Rutgers University in New Jersey, and Hunter College in New York, which was published in Journal of Molecular and Cellular Oncology (Feb 2015) .

EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) has approved the use of the following nutrition declaration for polyphenols in olive oil (Commission Regulation (EU ) 432/2012) : “The olive oil polyphenols contribute to the protection of blood lipids from oxidative damage. This statement can be placed only on oil containing at least 5 mg of hydroxytyrosol and its derivatives per 20 g of olive oil.” To achieve this effect, consumer’s should be notified that these benefits are obtained with a daily intake of 20 g of oil. In the case of our olive oil, according to the current chemical analysis, we have 36mg of hydroxytyrosol derivatives per 20g.

In 2014, the Andalusian Oleocanthal Society was established to share their findings and develop further scientific research around the increasingly more-important-to-understand polyphenol.